Kasrils objects to MK veterans joining defamation lawsuit

Lawyers for deputy defence minister Kebby Maphatsoe on Monday filed a late application to have the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) joined in their defamation case which former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils has brought against him.

With proceedings getting underway late in the High Court in Pretoria‚ Maphatsoe’s lawyer‚ Mashudu Tshivhase‚ argued before Judge Pieter Meyer that they wanted the MKMVA to join their defence.

“I will be acting on their behalf‚” he said.

Kasrils lawyer‚ advocate Dali Mpofu‚ said that they objected as they did not believe that the MKMVA had a right to join.

“This application is fatally flawed and must be dismissed with costs.”

The matter has been stood down briefly with both sides now in discussion over the practical implications of the application.

Kasrils is suing Maphatsoe for R1-million for allegedly defaming him when he called him “counter-revolutionary and an enemy of the people”.

Maphatsoe has claimed that he made the remarks on behalf of MKMVA in his capacity as the organisation’s national chairman.

He made the claims after Kasrils called for a boycott of the last national elections.